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Political Upheaval Triggers Riots

Politically-triggered violence which
has rocked Kenya for a week, and claimed more than 300 lives,
caused Mission Aviation Fellowship Thursday to suspend all its
flights in the country.

The ministry told the Christian Post it had received non-stop
requests for help from people desperate to flee deadly clashes
between police and anti-government protesters. The violence
exploded after a disputed December 27 presidential election in
which opposition leader Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki
of rigging the votes to ensure his re-election.

"The stories we heard were very, very sad," MAFs country
director in Kenya, Bernard Terlouw, told The Christian Post. "This
morning I saw trucks with riot police on Ngong road. Right now as I
write one can see smoke rising from Kibera and from the Ngong road
area we hear the sounds of shots. We can only pray that someone or
something intervenes."

The Kenyan Red Cross reports at least 70,000 people have been
displaced by the violence in western Kenya, including Christian
missionaries who were no longer safe in their homes.